Not So Normal
by SisCo Kid
Summary: Meredith likes her life. Normal, it was very normal. But she's not normal and a old friend from the past is coming to reveal that to her.
1. Normal

SisCoKid: Darn random ideas that pop into your head when you're updating a different fic.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 1

0-0-0-0

There are a lot of people in the world who think they're weird, or might get called it every once in a while. Meredith knew for a fact that she was weird, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why. As if the weird part had been a norm in her life before, but she couldn't remember it anymore. She was stronger and faster than everybody around her. Being able to trace other peoples scents and see crystal clear in the dark were nothing new to her. She choose to hide these facts. It was hard to be normal when you could carry your boyfriend rather than the other way around.

Meredith glanced over at her boyfriend. He was sitting next to her in their last class of the day. He was interesting himself. Sometimes when he returned from out of town trips, he would bring back a funny smell. "Joss." She said quietly.

He glanced over and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Love you." She mouthed with a smile.

He smirk and returned his attention to his work.

She continued to watch him for a few more seconds before continuing her own work. Joss was her hero. For as long as she could remember, she had had problems with sleep walking. Extreme sleep walking. Some times she would end up miles away from Bathony. Waking up in various states of nakedness. Sometimes with the taste of blood in her mouth and a strange scent that she couldn't identify. It used to be a very embarrassing ordeal. Joss put an end to that though. Now, only he found her and would bring her home, some times with out her waking up.

The final bell rang for school and students began to make their way for the door.

Meredith lingered behind. Waiting for Joss to finish organizing all his stuff. He was sort of O.C.D. with keeping things in order. She could only imagine what his room was like. That was left to the imagination because he never let her go in.

He zipped up his bag, then he walked up to her and pulled her into a embrace. "Am I still invited to come and eat dinner with your family?"

She rested her head on his chest. "Of course. My parents love you."

He gave her a squeeze before releasing her. "Not as much as I love you."

Meredith smiled. It was easy to love Joss.

0-0

Meredith sat in her room, sitting in front of a dresser with a mirror. She was brushing her hair to make herself representable for dinner with Joss and her family. She paused as she glanced at a picture of herself and a friend at the age of 13.

There was one other thing that was strange about her. She couldn't recollect anything from the age ten and before then. Well, there were a few things. Like certain smells that made her tear up and certain people on T.V. that struck fear in her heart, but nothing else other than that.

It wasn't easy, but she learned to suppress her curiosity and live life day by day. A normal carefree life.

She had a loving mother and father. She had a handsome and kind boyfriend. What else could she possibly need?

"Yes." Meredith responded to a knock on her door. "You're early." She stood up and gave her boyfriend a hug. She flinched away when he bent down to kiss her on the forehead. She offered him an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

He patted her on the head. "That's alright." He released her and took a seat on her bed.

She walked over and sat down on his lap. "Will you be in town this weekend?"

He shook his head.

"Not going to tell me where you're going, will you?"

Again, he shook his head.

She pouted at him, but then smiled. This was just the way things were. They had already agreed to this when they first started going out. He told her that he had secrets he could not and would not tell anybody. Meredith couldn't complain. Besides for the secrecy, he was the perfect boyfriend.

"Try not to wander off in your sleep while I'm not here."

Meredith laughed. "I never do when you're gone." She observed his eyes and noticed a secret there. She didn't bother digging though. She trusted her boyfriend.

"Wonder why that is?" He questioned no one in particular.

0-0-0-0

SisCoKid: Funny fact. I wrote this chapter second and the second chapter first. This is more of a chapter 0 or something like that.


	2. Childhood Friendship

SisCoKid: Chapter 2!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 2

0-0-0-0

Two children, a little boy and girl, were racing through a forest. Both of them running with equal strides, neither willing to give into the other. They were abnormally fast for two children at the age of eight. They didn't realise this because they only ever played with each other.

Patches of sunlight leaked in through holes in the canopy. The boy was unconsciously avoiding these.

The forest was about to end. beyond it, only open fields. The girl started to speed up, but the boy slowed to a stop at the end of the shadows. The girl jumped into the sun and began to dance around. Absorbing the sun rays with a big smile. She motioned for the boy to join her.

"You know I can't play in the sun." He pointed behind him with his thumb. "Let's go back into my backyard."

The girl stuck her tongue out. "Boo!" She walked over to him. "Thought I could finally trick you into the sun with a race." She patted him on the shoulder. "Well, I won."

The boy frowned at her. "That's not fair! You know my skin's sensitive to the sun."

The girl started skipping in circles around the boy. "Why were you running so hard if you thought it wasn't fair?"

"I don't know...my body just sort of moved on its own."

"Right. You lost and you know it!"

The boy started walking back into the forest. "At least I don't smell funny half the time." He mumbled.

The girl crossed her arms. She heard his insult. "You smell funny all the time."

A few more of these exchanges led to the both of them wrestling on the ground. The two of them were oblivious to their surroundings. Trees, rocks, and cliffs did not put fear in their minds. For they didn't bruise or get hurt like other children. Rather, they damaged the landscape.

The girl eventually ended up on top with the boy's hands pinned above his head. "You went easy on me!" She growled. Her eyes leering into his.

The boy shrugged the best he could. "I did try hard. You're strength is always going up and down." He grinned. "You're a weird girl!"

With a smile on her face, the girl gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "I'm also your wife."

0-0-0-0

"Would you please put a seat belt on! I know you're different, but it worries me still." Nelly complained.

Vladimir Tod was taking up the entire back seat of the car to lay down. Though he was feigning sleep with his eyes closed, he harbored a gentle smile on his face.

Memories of his childhood always cheered him up. He had grown up with his mother and father in the deep woods, far away from civilization. There was only one other family that live nearby. They had a daughter. His only friend for the longest time in life. Meredith, the girl that loved the color pink. It would of been easier if she liked brown because they were always making a mess of each other. She was one of the few lights from his past. The rest was marred with darkness and hardships.

Vladimir faked a yawn and set up in his seat. He buckled his seatbelt before Nelly could whine at him. "How much further?"

"Finally up eh?" Nelly glanced back at him through the rear view mirror. "Bathory about twenty minutes away. It not much, but it'll have everything you need."

"Thanks for letting me stay with you Nell."

Nelly waved him off. "I still don't understand why you would want to move here after living some place like Russia for the past few years. Ah well, it'll be good to have company."

Vladimir smiled. It took some time, but he had finally found her. Underneath the joy, there was a growing uneasiness. Why was she taken to Bathory. Surely France would have been a much more secure place for her. Why would her family leave her in the middle of nowhere in America?

He frowned. Maybe it was the best idea since it ended up taking him a year to locate her. She still went by Meredith, but her last name had been changed. Brookstone, Meredith Brookstone. He wasn't sure just how he felt about that.

Vladimir and Nelly passed the remaining car ride with idle chatter.

Bathory was even smaller than he imagined. Nelly's tour took all but fifteen minutes. She finally stopped at a two story house and pulled into the driveway. "Really? That's it?"

Nelly rolled her eyes. "I already told you it wasn't much. Now get out of the car and get your stuff out the trunk."

He stepped out of the car and stretched. All the traveling had taken its toll on his body. The multiple planes rides and then the drive over. He would definitely spend the night exploring this small town. Besides, he had jet lag. He was wide awake and it was almost bed time for people here.

Nelly unlocked the front door and then held it open for him. After he stepped in, she closed the door and locked it. She walked passed him and motioned for him to follow. He followed her up the stairs and down a hall, passing two doors on the way. "This is your room. Get settled in and then come down for some...blood bags..."

Vladimir chuckled to himself as she walked away. It would probably take her a while to get used to his diet. It would have been even more awkward if he was like a normal vampire and dined on people. But like his father before him, he would not drink from the source.

The room wasn't that bad. Not as big as his room at Vika's place, but he expected as much. this was a city of humans, so he should blend in with them as best he could.

After tossing his bag on his bed, he made his way to the kitchen. He was very hungry. It was hard to bring blood on planes and such, so he had go without eating since Russia. His stomach growled as he took a seat at the table.

"Just a minute and I'll have it ready for ya." Once the blood was nice and warm, Nelly took the bags out of the microwave and laid them on the table in front of him.

To say the least, he dominated those bags. They never stood a chance. After he was done he looked up at Nelly with hungry eyes.

She understood what he wanted and turned to heat up some more blood bags. "I'm going to have to find out how to hide this in food if you're going to be attending school."

"I don't have to eat at school. I can wait until I get home."

"Nelly shook her head. "That wouldn't be natural. People would start wondering why you aren't eating at school.

Vladimir frowned. He never thought of that. He'd never fully lived in human society before. This would prove very interesting. a lot of useful life skills would be gained during his stay here.

Nelly placed another three bags on the table in front of him. Their life span was the same as those that came before them. He stood up and smiled at Nelly. "Thanks Nell."

She smiled back at him before throwing away the empty bags. "It's the weekend, so you have a couple of days to get used to things here. You're going to need to fix your sleeping schedule by Monday."

Vladimir nodded. Over the years, he had learned to lie pretty good. But he couldn't bring himself to do it with Nelly. Probably because she had been so close to his mother. She was a good a second mother to him. Back when everything went sour, she was the person that personally escorted him to Russia.

But rather she knew or not, he was going out tonight.

0-0

It only took one word to sum up this small blip on the map. Peaceful. Small towns usually didn't have much to worry about from super natural being. People noticed in places like this when someone went missing. That's why vampires stuck to cities, or highly populated places. At most a vampire would only have one meal in such a small town. This would be a bad town to feed at. Even one meal might be pushing it for a vampire. Depending on what time of the month they choose to come.

The streets in Bathory were empty. New York, this was not. People went to sleep when it gets dark here. Or so he thought. Laughter and voices could be heard in the distance. 'This is the high school.' He observed as he walked closer.

Around a corner, a group of teens stood and sat in a group near the back entrance of the school. They were all pale and wearing black like him. Unlike him though, they were human. After listening to them converse for a few minutes, Vladimir decided to leave. Meredith had been his one and only friend. Talking to grown people was one thing. With peers his own age, he was socially awkward. It didn't help that they were part of the food chain to him.

He started walking back home. The one thing he really wanted to do. He knew, he couldn't. At least not at the moment. Meeting Meredith would have to wait.

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SisCoKid: That was fun. Hope it was fun to read so far.


End file.
